Obviously no one plans on implementing a project that will fail. However, statistics show that over the past 20 years a very large percentage of technology projects do fail to result in the business outcomes that they were expected to meet. The real issue is that leading change (implementing new technology, whether it be CX, transitioning to the cloud, IoT, etc…) is different than the role of leading in general. But this point is often overlooked or some leaders don’t realize how big a difference there is in leading change compared to their every day leadership job.
The reasons projects often fail and the need for orchestrating customer experience projects using organizational change management range from:
- Projects ran over budget, were late, or never completed.
- Projects were attempted more than once because initial efforts failed.
- Only a small part of the organization adopted the new processes or systems.
- When the project went live, critical business systems halted, causing loss of revenue, increased costs, dissatisfied customers and frustrated employees.
- Parts of the business (or possibly the entire organization) eventually reverted to the old way of doing things.
- The return on investment (ROI) and/or stated benefits were never realized.
- The project cost the business more money than it saved or generated.
Our research shows that there are seven steps for leaders of change leaders can use to be more successful.
Practice #1 – Understand the Business Case for Change
Practice #2 – Start with the Executive Team: Move It from Involved to Engaged
Practice #3 – Engage All Leaders and Prepare Them for the Journey
Practice #4 – Build a Broad Understanding of the Change Process
Practice #5 – Evaluate and Tailor the Change Effort
Practice #6 – Develop Adaptive Leadership Skills in Change Leaders
Practice #7 – Create Change Leadership Plans
Don’t become one of the statistics of failed projects. There are best practices that work.
@DrNatalie Petouhoff, VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Covering Customer-Facing Applications to Create Awesome Customer Experiences
